befok – really good, exciting, cool; as in “The rock-show was befok.” [Do not confuse with gefok.] Can also mean “crazy” in a very strong sense, as in “Are you befok?” — derogatory(err:definitely not a polite enquiry). “Ek het daai ou befok” – meaning I cheated that guy in a transaction. Profanity – the base ‘fok’ meaning to have sex (similar to “fuck”).

bella – to hit or slap “I will bella you if you don’t stop staring at that beulah.”

benou – (pronounce BER-NOW) – marijuana or dagga. Commonly used by Indians in Gauteng. “no benou there?”-do you have any dagga?

bergie – from berg, mountain, originally referring to vagrants who sheltered in the forests of Table Mountain; now a mainstream word for a particular subculture of vagrants, or homeless persons, especially in Cape Town. When used as slang refers to anyone down-and-out

betters – “To replenish” or “refill”. Example: Ekse lets make a betters with the mineral

betty – black person

beulah – beautiful, usually referring to a good looking guy

bife – Portuguese word for Beef but often refers to a man’s penis. (“Maria reckons she wants some of my bife!”)

bill – used to ask for the cheque; as in: “Can I have the bill, please?”, identical to British English

biltong – dried meat, similar to jerky (a mainstream word)

bint : from the Lebanese word for “girl”; used in reference to women in general (as in “check out that hot bint over there.”)

bioscope, bio – cinema, movie theatre (now dated), originally an international English word that became defunct elsewhere, it has survived longer in South Africa[1] as a result of the influence of the Afrikaans cognate bioskoop. Also related to the Dutch word “bioscoop”, which still means “cinema” in Netherlands usage.

blerrie/bladdy hell – damn

bliksem – strike, hit, punch; also used as an expression of surprise/emphasis (rude). It derives from the Dutch word for “lightning”, and often occurs in conjunction with donner. Used as a curse in Afrikaans: Jou bliksem! (You bastard!) Used to curse that Bliksem Taxi.

blou – being sad as in the English language feeling blue

bloutrein – literally “blue train”, referring to methylated spirits, sometimes used for drinking (filtered through a loaf of white bread). Also refers to the Blue Train (two words), a luxury train that travels from Pretoria to Cape Town.

boarded-off – declared medically unfit to work, and in receipt of a disability pension, As in: ‘My daddy was so lucky to have been BOARDED OFF by the corporation’

boer – literally “farmer” in Afrikaans. English-speaking people use the word to indicate an Afrikaans farmer, especially in a derogatory way, like “country bumpkin”, “boorish”; but Afrikaners use it with much pride, indicating a person with a deep love of the soil of Africa, a provider of food. boere (the plural form) can also refer to the police.

boerewors – spicy sausage (Afrikaans) farmer-sausage, used as a mainstream word in South African English

bokkie – (diminutive of bok, literally meaning “little buck” or “doe”) a popular term of endearment, comparable to “sweetheart”, “honey”, etc.

bolt/one out – used extensively in KZN. Means “by yourself” or “only one”.

bonehead – derogatory term for an Afrikaner

boom – Literal translation is “tree” but is commonly used to refer to marijuana

bosberaad – strategy meeting held outdoors, for example in a game reserve

boss – “nice” – “that girl is boss, ek sê”

boss – a salute to an unfamiliar person, or person in authority (usually to a male), as in ‘you know what it is boss’.

bossies, or bosbefok – crazy, whacko, mad. Also a term for one who has shell shock. Refers to the time of the South African Border War where soldiers spent time in the bush (“bos/bosse”) and would return home suffering battle flash-backs (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

bot – refer to gaam usually associated with a person, act or object that is either dodgy or gangster-like. (Originated from Afrikaans slang bot.)

boykie or boitjie – meaning a young white male who is cool in the high-school stereotype kind of way. Sporty and tanned, uses a lot of slang. From English “boy” and the Afrikaans “-tjie” meaning little.

bozy – slang for a black person, usually derogatory but sometimes used affectionately depending on context.

bra – a way of addressing a friend, as in ‘Howzit my bra’. ‘bra’ derived from ‘brother’

bra – male friend (shortening of brother, see also bru above)

bra – male friend compare American English: “dude”

braai – a barbecue, to barbecue (from braaivleis grilled meat), used as a mainstream word in South African English

brak – mongrel dog, can also refer to brackish water.

bring and come – an expression normally denoting some type of unspecified invitation to come and perform a particular task at a given location, i.e. ‘I told dat TV repair balie to Bring and Come and fix da TV’

brinjal – eggplant, aubergine [from port. “beringela”; also used in Indian English.]

Cape of Good Hope – a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula. [from Port. “Cabo da Boa Esperança” – named by a Portuguese king.]

carol – cry

catembe – a drink made by mixing red wine and coca-cola.

chaile – time to go home

chan – a derogatory term for an overweight, metrosexual South African. (likely origin: derived from the slang term china/chine). Also used as a variation to bru and bra.

chana – my mate (from Zulu, ‘my nephew’); umshana

Charo – a person of Indian origin. From the word “curry” (or tea).

chattis, khateis (plural chatteisim, khateisim. Yiddish: “a sinner”): approximately equivalent to “white trash”. The word refers particularly to poor, white, Afrikaans-speaking communities with endemic social problems. Sometimes used as an ethnic slur against Afrikaners in general. From Talmudic phrase Eyn bor yerey khet – a bor – (uncouth ignoramus) is not afraid of sin. The bor-Boer assonance gives a case for quibble: if not afraid of sin must be therefore a sinner.[6]

cheekyprawn – a term of foul abuse

cherps or chips – “Watch out” or “Move out the way”, as in “Chips chips everyone, here comes the teacher!” (distinct from the food or snack). Also often used when something gets thrown, or to ask someone to step out the way. Compare “heads up!”.

chommie – More likely to be used by young girls than guys, the word refers to a friend. A music artist goes by this name.

chommie/chomma – a friend (compare English “chum”); also refers to the perineum area between vagina and anus. Also spelled tjommie

choon – to tell someone something.

chop – “stupid”or “pathetic” – “don’t be such a chop (idiot).

chop – idiot, doos

chot – a very offensive term for a sexually active female

choty goty – beautiful girl

chouriço – traditional sausage made with pork, fat, wine, paprika and salt. It is then stuffed into tripe (natural or artificial) and slowly dried over smoke. Similar to Spanish chorizo.

chow – “eat”. or food.

chow – to eat

chrisco – a party/disco where Christian music mainly features. A combination of the words ‘Christian’ and ‘Disco’

chuck – “leave”. Equivalent of American “to bounce”. Examples: “Come bru lets chuck” or “sorry can’t go to the braai i gotta chuck.” If you are funny you might say, “boet, I have to make like Norris and Chuck.”

chup – “tattoo” – “cool chup exse”

Chwee chweereekeys– getting high

cilla (from Priscilla) – cigarette

clipper’ – R100 note

clips – Money, 1 clip = R100

clutchplate – see bonehead

coaster – a state of affairs that surpasses cool

coat – meaning “quote”, mis-pronounced, with a completely inaudible KW sound. as in Hey, can you give me a coat to fix my car?

Coconut – Referring to an African black person who is dualistic in their nature. Black on the outside and White on the inside. (derogatory term used amongst city dwelling Black South Africans).

dankie san – [Origin: Rap Music] “Thanks, Dude”. Soweto rapper Pro Kid has used it for his new fashion-label, bringing it into the commercial space.

dikbek – grumpy, in a huff (literally: “thick mouth” (pout), with an image of puffed-out cheeks like a bullfrog)

dinges – thingamabob, a wotzit or a whatchamacallit

dis – to intentionally disregard somebody else..

dobbel – “gamble”

dof – stupid or slow to understand.

doff – stupid. “Are you doff?”

doing a bafana – demanding more smeka (money) for being mediocre

doing a benni – [Origin: the saying comes from the formerly much-lauded Bafana Bafana striker Benni McCarthy’s “uncharitable habit of turning his back on his country”[8] following many instances of failing to turn up to play for South Africa’s national football squad.] Meaning “showing disloyalty / being irresponsible”.

dom pedro – drink made by mixing ice cream with whisky.

domkop – idiot (lit. Dumbhead), same as German “Dummkopf”

donga – ditch of the type found in South African topography. (From Zulu, “wall”; this has become a mainstream word for such a feature.)

donner – to beat up. Used together with “bliksem”. Derived from “donder” (thunder, related to Thor). Amounts to an ancient curse. Like “Nick i’m gonna donder jou poes”

duidelik – direct from Afrikaans, meaning “clear”; used to express clarity on something or excitement about something.

Dutchman – derogatory term for a white Afrikaner.

E

eeuww man! – an informal way of greeting. The South African Indian equivalent of “Hey dude!”

eh pa – a cry of exclamation. (“hey man!”)

eina – exclamation of pain, as in ouch (from Khoekhoe exclamation of pain or surprise)[2]

eina! – ouch! used as a mainstream word in South African English.

eish – [compare Bantu usage above] (pronounced like /aysh/ but also, less often, as /ish/) – Used to express everything ranging from frustration to surprise to disapproval, but also just everyday acknowledgement of things you can’t change like “Eish, the traffic is bad today”. Heard frequently each and every day! Also used to indicate displeasure. For example: ‘At the time I was the only black guy and I used to ask myself “Eish [5], what am I doing here?”’

eish! – an interjection expressing resignation

ek sê – I say!

eksê – from Afrikaans, translated it means “I say”. Used in greeting i.e. “Whakind eksê” or in general speech.

elsie geselsie – chatterbox

entjie – Cigarette. For example, “Awe ou. Steek ‘n ent!”

erica – erection

espetada – a typical Portuguese dish made usually of large chunks of beef rubbed in garlic and salt, skewered onto a bay leaf stick.

gaam – dodgy/gangster i.e. That person is gaam. (He is a gangster.)That place is gaam. (it is dodgy.)

gail – chat

gam – derogatory term for Coloured Coloured people in South Africa. Derived from “Gham” or “Ham” referring to Ham in the Old Testament. It is a reference to the children of Noah’s son Ham who were illegitimate and cursed into slavery by God.[4][5]

gammie – diminutive of ‘Gam’, derogatory term for coloured people in South Africa, particularly in Cape Town.

gara – from the Lebanese word for “faeces” or “dung”; refers to something that is crap (as in “that guy is talking gara!”)

ghey – literally translated from the Lebanese word for “brother”; in colloquial South African refers to “a tinted-windows, lots-of-jewellery” kinda guy (pronounced like “gay” but with a /x/, like a guttural “g” or the “ch” in Scottish loch)

ghushesh – bmw 325is

give rocks, to – to be indifferent. For example: I give rocks about your concerns! (I couldn’t care about your concerns!) Can also be abbreviated to “Give rocks.”, and the negative version “I don’t give rocks” means exactly the same thing.

giyn – a homosexual male

Glossary

goffel – Ugly girl/woman. For example,”What a G!”. Also a degrading term for a person of coloured origin.

graze – a term used in reference to food. “I’m starving, let’s go get some graze.”

gully – “area” or “corner” (KZN)

guy – similar to the American English word “dude”

guzzie – friend (from the Zulu guz’lam)

H

hard up – “in love”

harriet – hairy man

haw! – expression of disbelief, surprise. Pronounced like English “how!”. From the Zulu “hawu”.

hayibo! – wow! (from Zulu, ‘definitely not’)

heita – heita, meaning “hello” or “hi”. It was from this that telecommunications company ‘Telkom’ got the name ‘8.ta’ for their mobile addition

Here is a list of words indigenous to South Africa. If there is a word you hear on the show that you don’t understand and it is not shown here, please let us know and we will add it immediately.

higher grade – a bit too complicated (from the South African matric division of exams into standard grade and higher grade. The system of dividing subjects into higher and standard grade has become non-existent as of 2008.)

hilda – ugly (or horrible), usually referring to a not-so good looking guy

hit a luck – expression, to have met with good fortune. as in, ‘hey my bru hit a luck, eee got graft at the Casino’. Also often noted in the form hit such a luck.

hoesit, hoezit, howzit – derived from “How is it going? – contracted to how’s it?_In English SA context, howzit is more a greeting of “hello” rather than “how are you?”, similar to SA black slang’s “eta” or “ola”

Hosh – “Hello”; also used before combat. Example in combat: Hosh, jy raak wys (“Hello, show me what you made of”). This gang-related word occurs inside as well as outside of prison: use at own discretion.

in sy moer – badly damaged, destroyed (rude, often considered profanity due to ‘moer’ to beat up)

indaba – conference (from Zulu, ‘a matter for discussion’); has become a mainstream word in South African English

inyanga – traditional herbalist and healer (compare with sangoma)

isit – (pronounced: \izit\) the words “is” and “it” put together. Short term for “Is that so?” (For example: John: “Bra, I just found out I have a million dollars!” Charles: “Isit?”; or: John: “Bru, you would not believe how amazing it felt to footskate in front of all those people.” Charles: “Isit?”) Also, it can mean “really?”

jags – “horny”. The first form occurs in Cape Town; the second predominates on the east coast of South Africa. May also mean “crazy” or “mad”. Examples: Person A: I want to get robbed Person B: Are you jags? or Person A: Ek wil my werk verloor Person B: Is jy jags?.

Jakete (from the word Jacket) – R10 note

jenny – masturbate

jerepigo – a usually red heavy dessert wine. [from Port. “geropiga”.]

jessica – jealous

jislaaik! – expression of surprise, can be positive or negative. Often used when you get a fright, but equally often during particularly exciting parts of a rugby game.

jo – an expression of surprise e.g., “Jo, that was rude” “Jo, you gave me a fright!” pron. yo as in yonder)

jol – to have fun, to party, can also refer to a disco or party, to commit adultery or even dating or courting

just now, sometime in the near future or the near past, not necessarily immediately. Expresses an intention to act soon, but not necessarily immediately, or expresses something that happened in the near past. Probably from the Afikaans netnou with the same meaning.

kak – Literal translation : shit. crap, rubbish, nonsense (vulgar), of very wide usage. Also used as a way of further expressing one’s feeling in language, for example, instead of “that girl is pretty” one can say emphatically “that girl is kak pretty!”

khaki – [from the colour worn by British troops] derogatory term for an English person

kiff, kif, kief – (adjective) wicked, cool, neat, great, wonderful. The word derives from the Arabic word ‘kif’ meaning pleasure or marijuana. This may also be related to the Afrikaans word for poison: gif. Coastal pot-smokers used the term to refer to Durban Poison: “Gifs” [locally-grown marijuana]. The word evolved into kiff, an adjective or exclamation meaning “cool”, amongst English-speaking people on the east coast.

klankie – unpleasant smell. Also said as just “Klank”. Pronounced as in “Clunk”

klap – to smack. (From Afrikaans). “He got klapped in the bar”. Like a “bitch-slap”.

koex – drink (“what you koexing?” – what are you drinking?)

koffie-moffie – a camp male waiter or air steward. See “moffie”.

kont – same as ‘Cunt’ in English (profanity)

kraal – enclosure for livestock. [from Afrik. via Port. “curral”.]

krimpie – old person

kugel: an overly groomed, materialistic woman (from the Yiddish word for a plain pudding garnished as a delicacy). Older-generation Jews coined this usage as a derogatory label for Jewish women who aspired to become part of the privileged English-speaking white community. Current usage, often humorously intended, applies the word to any nouveau riche women in South African society who appear overly groomed and materialistic. Bagel and bagel-boy occur as labels for the male counterpart of the kugel. (Compare the American-English term Jewish-American princess which has subtly differing connotations.)

las – 1. an act that is undesirable to commit, a burden. 2. To tell someone or suggest to stop doing an act. (origin. something that is slowing you or an object down e.g. ‘n Las in die pad. (An object as in a stone in the road.)

late – A euphemism for dead/deceased; as in ‘My daddy is 2 years late’. (Unconnected with the idea of tardiness.)

laura – lover

lekgotla or kgotla – planning session, or strategy (used mostly in official government papers, but even in papers written in English) (from Sesotho (le)kgotla – courtyard)[2]

lekker – nice, good, great (lit. tasty) Like “tik, tik is lekker”

lekker/lukka – “nice” [from Afrikaans]. The first form occurs more commonly; the second predominates in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

mos – Afrikaans, implies that what has been said is well known or self-evident (a formal part of grammar, the closest English equivalent would be “duh!”). “Ek drink mos tee.” (“I drink tea, duh!”). Used at the end of a sentence, as in “…Jy weet mos.” (“…You know then.”)

motjie – wife/woman

muti – medicine (from Zulu umuthi) – typically traditional African

mzansi – [from the isiXhosa words, Mzantsi Afrika] [7].) A common term which means South Africa. [Mzansi] List of colloquial South African place names first published in Y magazine.

Mzansi – South Africa (uMzantsi in Xhosa means “south”)

N

N.A.A.F.I. – (pronounced NAAFI) acronym for: “No Ambition and Fuck-all Interest”; (originated from the (still existing) British military “Navy, Army and Air Force Institute”) referring to a lazy person. Used extensively during the days of National Service.

naai – “sex” (Western Cape) Also used as a noun “Jou ou naai” (literally “You screw”) and used in the plural: “naaie” (literally more than one “screw”), meaning an undesirable person rather than the sexual act. Definitely not polite language.

naai – derogatory for having sex with a girl (“Last night she gave me a lekker naai”), British English ‘fuck’, or from the Afrikaans “naai” (to sew)

naartjie (Afrikaans) – tangerine, mandarin, satsuma – any pealable orange-coloured citrus fruit with neat segments; used as a mainstream word in South African English, and a dietary staple. Often thrown at T.V. when frustrated with referee decisions.

nana – grandfather

nancy – no

nè? – do you know what I mean/agree?, oh really?, is it not so?. From the French “n’es pas” meaning “Isn’t it?”. e.g. “Jy hou van tee, nè?” (“You like tea, not so?”) (informal). The South African English equivalent is “hey”, for example “Eish, its cold hey?”.

nelly – neurotic

nogal – of all things. Term expressing a measure of surprise

nooit – never, no way, unbelievable!

nora – stupid

now now – an immediate but not literal declaration of impending action, may be past or future tense. From the Afrikaans expression “nou nou”.

O

olga – old and ugly

onetime – of course, without delay; often used as a positive reply to a question

oom – an older man of authority, commonly in reference to an older Afrikaans man (Afrikaans for uncle)

Peruvian / Peruvnik: a low-class, unmannered and unsophisticated person regardless of wealth, usually Jewish. The etymology is unclear. [2] (Theories: (a) Yiddish corruption of Parvenu[3]; (b) derives from an acronym for “Polish and Russian Union”, supposedly a Jewish club founded in Kimberley in 1870s, according to Bradford’s Dictionary of South African English. [4]) The more assimilated and established Jews from Germany and England looked down on this group, and their descendants remain stigmatised.

piel – derogatory term for a male genitalia (“cock” or “dick”)

pikinini – a black child [from Port. “pequenino”.]

piso – Portuguese word for penis but often used as a derogatory term for another person. (“Hey man, don’t be such a piso, don’t you know how to pour a catemba?”)

plaas – lit. : farm. Also, when someone falls down : Plaas gekoop.

plankton – see bonehead

platteland – rural area, country (as in living in the country, as opposed to living in the city)

plot – pursue romantically, courting

poes – derogatory term for a female genitalia (“pussy” or “cunt”)

poesgesig – derogatory term for an English-speaking South African (“cuntface”)

poke – stab

polly – Portuguese homosexual

pom, pommie – a Prisoner of Mother England Brit (used also in Australian and New Zealand English)

pommie, pom – derogatory term for an English person (borrowed from Australia)

porra – slang for a Portuguese person or the Portuguese language (“Those 2 porra okes were talking porra so I couldn’t make out what they were gaaning aan about”)

porra – slang for a Portuguese person or language, usually derogatory but sometimes used affectionately depending on context.

porraland – slang and affectionate term for Portugal used by South African-Portuguese.

portuguese roll – a light Portuguese bread roll with a crisp crust sprinkled with flour and popular amongst South Africans.

posie/pozzie – “home”. Afrikaans-speakers tend to use the first for; English-speakers the second.

potter-marie – means a dumbass (Hindu language roots)

pozzy – house or home; place where one lives or hangs out.

prego roll – steak sandwich made with piri-piri (chili) sauce and served on a Portuguese roll. [from Port. “prego”.]

prem – car

press – “sex”, as in: “I want to press my young one tonight” (KZN)

priscilla – policeman

pull in – literally means to invite Example: “Pull in to my pozzy tonight, gona have a bust up”

pulling a jabu pule – performing a disappearing act. For example: “Are you pulling a Jabu Pule [8] on me?” (Are you performing a disappearing act on me?); or: “I will never pull a Jabu Pule on you” (I will never disappear or go awol).

pulling a mbeki – keeping mum because you have nothing intelligent to say, so others will call it quiet diplomacy because at least “diplomacy” sounds like an intellectual word.

right – an affirmation, mostly used while giving traffic directions, as in “Go straight, Right. Turn Left, Right.”

rita – rent boy

robot – traffic-light[3]

rockspider – see bonehead

roogie – R50 note

rooinek – (“red neck”) Afrikaner derogatory term for English person or English-speaking South African. Derived in 19th century due to native British not being used to the hot African sun and getting sunburnt, especially on the neck. Almost the exact opposite to the American usage of “redneck”.

rop – nice, radical. (e.g. “That was such a rop wave.”) Also used as a verb meaning ‘to steal’. (e.g. “I will rop you of that kief watch.”)

rope – derogatory term for an Afrikaner – as in thick, hairy and twisted

Roti Ou / Bread Ou Hindi person

S

saamie – a sandwich[3]

sangoma – traditional healer or diviner

sanwisha – not really slang, just mispronounced ‘sandwich’ (“Can I have one Toshta Cheese Sanwisha?”)

shappies – Chappies Gum sold in most stores in South Africa, often used as currency (“Ah ‘avent got shange, take shappies”)

sharp – goodbye, (“shap im out” – goodbye I’m leaving)

shebeen – illegal drinking-establishment (from Irish sibín), synonymous with speakeasy. In South Africa it refers in particular to unlicensed bars in the townships, and has become a mainstream word. During the apartheid era laws prohibited non-whites from consuming any alcohol except traditional sorghum beer, and taverns selling ‘hard-tack’ became the centre of social activity.

sheila – an ugly woman

sheila – defacate (from shit)

shiksa: as in other Jewish communities, this means “non-Jewish girl”. Traditionally “slave-girl”, from the Yiddish version of the Hebrew word for “dirty, unclean, loathsome”[7] In South Africa, however, it has the additional meaning of a “female domestic worker”.

shot – “good” or “correct” or “thanks” (depending on context). Example for the meaning “good” – Person A: What is 3+3? Person B: six Person A: shot. Example for the meaning “thanks”: – Person: A I have bought you a sweet Person B: Shot.

sosatie – a kebab on a skewer, used as mainstream word in South African English.

soutpiel/soutie – derogatory term for English person, literally salty penis. Someone with one foot in England, the other in South Africa and their penis hanging in the Atlantic Ocean

spaza – an informal trading-post/convenience store found in townships and remote areas (also a term referring to something cheap and nasty – i.e. of poor quality)

speak goat – derogatory term for speaking Afrikaans

speech – an argument

spiet – to fight

starter pack – (Origins: Terminology first used by mobile-phone companies but quickly adapted by car thieves and car hijackers.) Refers to entry-level cars [9], especially vehicle-makes occurring commonly on the road and therefore less easy to spot as stolen. Thieves can “chop up” the parts at an illegal “chop shop” and used them for repairs on more expensive vehicles.

stoep – porch, verandah, like American English stoop, but pronounced with a shorter vowel

stompie – a cigarette butt, a short person or impolite term to refer to the remaining arm/leg/finger after an amputation.

stukkend – (Afrikaans) broken, a lot. Also commonly used when someone is hungover. For example, “I am so stukkend”.

Stukkie – “girl” or possibly “girlfriend”

stukkie, stekkie – a woman (from the Afrikaans meaning “a piece”) – mostly used when referring to a woman that you have/have casual encounters with, girlfriend

sunno – Initially an insult, but now used amongst friends as a greeting, as in: Whakind son

suss – slang for “look”, “check”, “see” (“Did you suss out it out?” – “Did you check it out?”

swaai – to dance. (For example: “Lets vaai (go) swaai.”)

swak – bad

swak – broke. Original Afrikaans: weak. “I’m swak, ek sê”. Also used to suggest that someone’s behaviour was harsh (with varying degrees of seriousness, depending on tone and context), for example: “It’s swak that I failed the test”

swak – see “swat”

swat – carrying out an action resulting in an undesirable or negative outcome; “when you chaffed my cherrie the other day, it was swat oke. Totally swat”; “Moderating a list of slang words is impossible and totally swat oke”; “Changing this word to swak would be totally swat oke”.

T

Tannie – “aunt”, used by Afrikaans-speakers

tannie – female version of toppie, from the Afrikaans word for “Aunty”.

tekkies – sneakers. (The Anglicised pronunciation tackies has become mainstream in South African English..)

tet – breast or boob

thick-cut British chips; usually soft, oily and soaked in vinegar, usually bought in a brown paper bag. Slap is Afrikaans for “limp”. French fries refers to thinly cut chips. Crispy potato chips are referred to as ‘crisps’.

this thing/”dis ting” – watchamacallit

tickey – Thruppence or 3 pennies, e.g. “You could get a tickey for returning a coke bottle and three tickeys would buy you an eskimo pie”. Dated.

tiet – English equivalent Boob or Breast (from ‘teat’)

tokolos – a dwarf-like water sprite, taken from tokoloshe.

tom – money or cash, as in “I must earn some tom”. From Cockney rhyming slang where “tom” comes from “tomfoolery” (“jewellery”)

Toppie – “old man”, used by Afrikaans-speakers. An older male authority-figure. Often used by Indians but also by working-class whites. From an Indian word for “hat”. Ou toppie – father – see ouballie

tops – “excellent”, “the best”

toyi-toyi – protest-dancing; used in mainstream South African English

trek – to move or pull. (The word has become international with the meaning of “making a pioneering journey”; the slang usage more closely resembles the standard Afrikaans meaning.)

trinchado – a popular spicy meat dish of Angolan and Mozambican origin.

trudy – someone that’s beyond help

tsotsi – gangster, layabout, no gooder

tuinbooi – Term used to refer to a gardener, usually a black gardener

tum-blahh – from the English word “tumbler”, meaning a heavy glass. As in: ‘hey boy, run and get a Tum-blah for the larnie to have some Min-rill’

umlungu – white South African or the Boss (Bass) of the company; isiXhosa word for the white foam that is left on the beach sand, once a wave has retreated back into the sea. (foam is for unprofitable use).

V

vaalie – mildly derogatory term used by people on the coast for a tourist from inland (Root: Old Transvaal province)

vai – literally go in Portuguese, but often combined with other languages, for “let’s go” as in, “let’s vai”, or with Sotho, “a re vai.” Especially common in Johannesburg. Mostly pronounced and written as “waai” (as in “let’s waai”), referring to the Afrikaans word ‘waai’ which means ‘blow (like the wind)’, probably an adaption of the Portuguese word vai (go).

verkramp – politically conservative or pessimistic, the opposite of verlig, or enlightened

vinegar – [Origin: Port Elizabeth] Denoting insecurity; especially used of people who behave nastily to others because of their own complexes. “He’s full of vinegar” – meaning he’s got so many chips on his shoulder.

viva! – long live! [interj. from Port. “Viva”. Local use influenced from Mozambican usage during struggle for independence.]

voertsek, voetsek – get lost, buzz off, go away, run, scram, stuff off, bugger off (it can be considered rude, depending on the context) – usually used when referring to an animal. From the Dutch “vort, zeg ik” – used with animals, meaning “Go away!” or “Get moving”

vrek – Afrikaans meaning for an animal dying.

vrot – bad, rotten, putrid, sometimes drunk

vrotbek – someone who swears a lot or is swearing a lot at the moment.

Vrou – my wife, as in ‘Ek sê, I must first ask my Vrou’; from the Afrikaans word for ‘wife”/”woman”.

vry – to make out or courting (equivalent to American “necking”, British “snogging” or Australian “pashing”)

Vrystaat vineyard – Shifting spanner

vying-going, as in we vying to the soccer

W

weisser: Yiddish for “white” – a white person

wena – Zulu meaning “you”. Commonly used in a sentence “Haw wena!”

Whakind – a greeting, usually used amongst guys only, and frowned upon when used in greeting women. This word can also express an enquiry about something, especially when used outside the Kwa-Zulu Natal region.

what kind – Greeting, similar to Howzit

What say/What you say/Wat sê jy – alternative for Whakind in the greeting-sense. English-speakers use the first and second forms; Afrikaans-speakers the third.

what what – mostly used in arguments, meaning “this and that”. Often heard as what you say what what

whenwe – a nostalgic white migrant from other parts of Africa, especially Zimbabwe: “when we were in Rhodesia…”

Wit Ou – a White person

woes – wild, untidy, unkempt or irreverent. A general term pertaining to either a person, behaviour or situation

wys – multiple meanings – to insult(see tune) or to say e.g. “Yoh, John wys me after I told him to shut up!”

X

Y

yebo – a Zulu word which means “yes”.

yebo – Zulu meaning yes

yoh – an expression of surprise e.g., “Yoh, that was rude” “Yoh, you gave me a fright!”, (Police-chief talking about the poor physique of his policemen) “They should look at our men and say “yoh!”.

Young one – Refer to “Stekkie”

Z

Z3 – refers to HIV and AIDS, because of its speed. This is a reference to the BMW Z3.